In this second part of our 3 part series on the age at which it is appropriate for youths to start strength and conditioning, we are going to take a closer look at how a youth strength and conditioning programme should look. If you missed part 1, which showed that youth resistance training is in no way dangerous if conducted in a safe and controlled environment, then click here to read it.

Youth Lifting

Many who think that youth athletes should not undertake strength and conditioning training are also the same people that think that strength and conditioning is all about big lifting and heavy weight.

Regardless of age, and especially in youth strength and conditioning, this is, quite simply, not the case. Let’s take a closer look at why this is not the case…

Importance of Fundamental Movement Skills

Youth strength and conditioning is centred round key movement competencies. Fundamental movement skills are the building blocks for more advanced, ‘sport-specific’ movement patterns. No matter the length of time that a youth has undertaken formalised strength and conditioning, motor skill development should form a crucial part of their training programme [1].

For example, can a child stand on one leg with their eyes closed? Although on the face of it, being able to stand on one leg with your eyes closed may sound somewhat trivial, single leg stability forms a crucial aspect of any sport in which running is required – the better you are at controlling your bodyweight on one leg, the better you will be at absorbing force at speed (stabilising) on one leg thus meaning you can run faster as less time is spent with your foot on the ground absorbing these high forces (ground contact time).

The age at which it is appropriate for youth athletes (people under the age of 18) to participate in strength and conditioning training has long been a debated topic. The purpose of this article is to show that, conducted in the right environment, youth athlete strength and conditioning is perfectly safe and reduces sports-related injuries. So what are the facts?

Benefits of Resistance Training

It seems that for many parents the prevailing view is that youths should not undertake resistance training as doing so may harm their physical development. Yet it’s unlikely that many of these same parents would think twice about letting their son or daughter play on a climbing frame (such as monkey bars, pulling themselves up, or jumping off onto the ground) in the local park even though this is still resistance based, just with the child’s bodyweight as the resistance.

Support of Strength and Conditioning National Bodies

In recent years, many national strength and conditioning bodies have issued updated position statements on the topic of youth strength and conditioning [1][2]. More and more research is concluding that it is perfectly safe for youths to undertake strength and conditioning as long as it is appropriately prescribed and supervised [2].

It is not the undertaking of strength and conditioning training that is in itself dangerous; rather, it is the fact that youth athletes, left unsupervised, adopt poor training modalities with unsafe technique and dangerous loads, leading to injuries. It is therefore imperative that this training is part of an appropriately structured training programme conducted in a safe environment [3].

Justin Thomas was the stand-out golfer of the 2017 season: he won 4 tournaments, including his first major with the PGA Championship. He’s carried this form into 2018, winning the Honda Classic in February.

What lays behind this recent success? A complete overhaul of the golf specific strength and conditioning work he was doing.

As Thomas said in a recent interview,

‘I wasn’t always someone who loved working out, but now, it’s a major part of my life. It’s important for my body to feel how it needs to feel to play the best I can. It’s something I take very seriously. I probably put on a good 15-20lbs last year.’

Adding 2 to 3 stone in weight has certainly transferred over to Thomas’ golf game. Despite still weighing only 145lbs (65kg) he is placed 8th in the PGA stats for the 2018 season with a driving distance average of 312.5 yards.

In his own words ‘pound for pound, my swing is the most powerful on Tour’. The confidence this must give him when he stands on the tee of any hole is something that, although tough to quantify, will surely put him at an advantage over his opponents.

How many club golfers weigh considerably more than Thomas yet hit the ball nowhere near as far?

Admittedly, technical proficiency plays a huge role in this.

Yet, Thomas has managed to considerably increase his driving distance at a stage in his career when he is already highly proficient at the technical aspects of the game.

How did he manage this?…

Well, power is the product of force and velocity. Improving either of these aspects (force or velocity) can lead to increased power production and explosiveness of an athlete. By gaining muscle mass, Thomas made it considerably easier for himself to apply more force thus improving this half of the equation.

However, if Thomas only focused on increasing his force production through maximal strength training what may have happened would have been a reduction in the contractile velocity of his muscles. Obviously, in a movement as fast as a golf swing this would be disastrous. It was therefore imperative for him to undertake strength and power training in order to utilise the extra force at his disposal.

With the golfers we work with on the Rigs Performance Athlete Development Programme, we make sure that all strength and conditioning support we give ensures that any extra strength we obtain is translated immediately into the golf swing. Through completing an individualised Corrective Exercise Programme alongside this, we also ensure that the golfers remain flexible enough to hit golf balls day in day out.

As golfers are fast becoming as strong and powerful as they are skilful, it seems fitting to remember a quote from the man who changed the game, Tiger Woods:

‘Golf is a sport, so you have to train like an athlete’

If you are a golfer and interested in training like an athlete, get in touch with Rigs Head of Performance, Josh Bridgeman today. Visit our website here; http://www.rigsfitness.co.uk/rigs-fitness-strength-and-conditioning-birmingham-performance/ or send Josh an email to josh@rigsfitness.co.uk